I Didn't Know You Then
by S.J.Stevens
Summary: He didn't want to take the time to get to know her and she refused to take the time for him. But events beyond their control force them to try. Who knew such opposite personalities could fit together so well? Team 10/ShikaIno/Chuunin Exam time period.
1. Chapter 1 Introduction of Team 10

**Authors Note:**

Hello everybody! This is my first fan fiction, hope you like it! I wanted to mention a few things. First off, the reason for the M rating. The main characters in this story are 12, so don't expect them to get busy and have sex. Lol. Sorry. However, despite that they're kids, they are also ninja. They are exposed to violence and will themselves do violent things. There will be death in this story and I may be somewhat graphic. Not too graphic though, I don't want anyone to puke. Lol. And also, kids swear. So there will be occasional cussing. Mainly from Mr.-bad-attitude Shikamaru.

Second, while this is in the category of romance and I'm calling it a ShikaIno fic, the characters aren't gonna be making out and they might not even kiss. I haven't decided. It depends on how long I want to extend this story. I will probably write a sequel in which the characters are older and therefore, free to… have fun.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, it would be called Shikamaru. All rights go to Masashi Kishimoto (hope I got his name right!).

**--**

I Didn't Know You Then

Chapter 1

With hair of pale sun-golden blonde, eyes as blue as the warmest, clearest tropical island waters, and lightly tan skinned that seemed to glow with the vibrancy of youth, Ino Yamanaka was both the epitome of a teen magazine beauty queen and the top kunoichi of her graduating class from the academy. She got top marks in all her tests, both practical and written. She could take out a shinobi by means of her skill with weapons or her family's mind manipulating jutsus. She could bring down almost any man, ninja or civilian, with a wink and a flip of her hair. She lacked no confidence, and never hesitated to speak exactly what was on her mind. She dieted constantly to achieve perfection in her looks and trained often, to improve upon her skills, strength, and speed. She was determined to be the best she could be and then some.

With hair of black as dark as a night without stars, eyes as brown as the deepest, richest soils of the earth, and skin as pale as moonlight despite his time spent laying beneath the sun, Shikamaru Nara was both one of the greatest geniuses to ever grace the village of Konoha and one of the bottom two students of his graduating class from the academy. He received abysmal marks on most of his tests because of his lazy idea that test time was synonymous with nap time. He barely scraped by with recommendations from one of his sensei and decent practical test marks. He could easily take down a shinobi with a wicked combination of tactical genius and his family's shadow manipulating jutsus, though he was rarely willing to put in the effort. Fighting was troublesome. And so were women. He avoided both, and met them with sarcasm and apathy when he couldn't. He lacked no confidence, but rather lacked the energy and determination that seemed to thrive in his peers.

If anyone had asked the two ninja how they felt on the day they were assigned their genin team, team 10, they would have told you that fate was cruel. Or at least the Hokage was. They were put on a team together, along with Shikamaru's childhood friend Chouji; a timid boy who shied away from conflict nearly as much as Shikamaru did from… doing anything. They were an odd mix. Shikamaru wanted nothing while Ino wanted everything. Their polar opposite personalities brought them into conflict on a regular basis. They traded insults and sarcasm constantly, with Chouji standing back watching like a spectator at a tennis match. Shikamaru, with his superior intellect, almost always won their verbal sparring matches. But it cannot be said that Ino never gave as good as she got. He tortured her with his wit and she returned fire during training. Shikamaru refused to hit a girl and therefore, made it much harder for him to defend himself against Ino without her getting quite a few hits in on him.

In the beginning, once training had ended each day, team 10 would spilt and go in opposite directions. Shikamaru and Chouji would go to either one of Chouji's favorite restaurants or to one of Shikamaru's favorite cloud watching spots. Ino, on the other hand, would often seek out team 7 for the purpose of glomping her crush, Sasuke, or having a verbal spar (one that she could actually win) with her former best friend Sakura. Team 10 rarely all hung out together. The only times were during training or when they were on missions together.

Missions, for this particular team, would not have been a problem if not for the fact that two out of the three members wanted to attack each other just as often as the enemy. They did a good job of pulling it together during a fight, mainly thanks to Shikamaru's passive tendency to just let Ino have her way and be the boss and Ino's begrudging admittance that Shikamaru's strategies were useful. But as soon as the fight was over, there was something new for the two to fight about; a new excuse to glare daggers at his back, a renewed reason to give her the cold shoulder. Asuma, their jounin sensei, would shake his head and light a cigarette, while Chouji would pull out a fresh bag of chips and have at it. It was just how it was for the first six months or so. Then came the Chuunin Exam. There are some things in this world that people just can't go through together without forming a friendship, and barely surviving a month long exam against terrifying nin from other villages, as well as traps set by their test proctors is one of those things.

--

**-Preview of Chapter 2!!**

_Shikamaru woke to the sound of low rumbling laughter. His eyes opened slowly to see his father squatting down beside him, leaning over to get a look at his son. His father smirked. Shikamaru groaned. His father smirking was never a good sign. He pulled himself onto his elbows and suddenly realized something. It was dark outside. But… it didn't get dark outside until-_

"_You missed dinner," he father said lightly._

_Shikamaru flopped back down onto the ground miserably. He was hungry and dirty and still tired, and his fathers voice was nearly putting him to sleep. It wasn't a disrespectful thing. But his father, Shikaku, had a low voice that was always so… calm. It was almost melodic. Shikaku laughed again, his smirk becoming more pronounced. _

"_So, from what I heard, you had an interesting day with some of the younger kids in the village." _

_Shikamaru scowled, knowing full well that his father was barely holding in another laugh. Damn his mother and her need to talk about the stupidest shit. He continued scowling up at his father, whose smirk was fading into a somewhat softer smile. Shikaku sighed lightly before speaking._


	2. Chapter 2 Tension and Training

_**Authors Note:**_

_Ok, Here's Chapter 2! Hope you like it! For future reference, big areas of text in italics means it's a flashback, though I will always try to remember to write Flashback at the beginning of that area. Also, sorry that Chapter one was soooo freaking short. I'll try not to make chapters that short anymore, but if it does, I'll try to make up for it by updating quickly. _

_This chapter is mostly from Shikamaru's POV, but it does switch to Asuma for a little bit to explain why he acts the way he does earlier in the chapter._

_--_

_I Didn't Know You Then_

_Chapter 2_

_Shikamaru sighed deeply as he removed his jacket and twisted it to wring the water out. He had, once again, made the mistake of verbally besting his only female team mate, Ino. Why was it a mistake? Because this particular female was a firm believer in revenge. And pranks. It started during one of their team training sessions. Asuma, in an unusually bad mood, had decided to subject his students to endurance training, followed by taijutsus, and then back again to more endurance work. It was in the last 15 minutes of their training, during which they each had a basket of rocks strapped to their backs and had to walk up a steep hill, that Shikamaru and Ino fell into their usual routine of annoying the hell out of one another._

_**-- -- -- --**_

_**Flashback**_

"_No guy can do this shit on a daily basis and survive. It's just not -huff- possible." Shikamaru choked out between steps. Sweat cascaded down his back, chest, and stomach, and collected on his brow line. His teammates weren't fairing much better._

"_I bet -huff, huff- I bet Sasuke could do it. He probably does this everyday before -huff- breakfast." Ino said, adjusting the straps of her basket to keep them from digging into her shoulders. Despite the unpleasant exercise they were doing, Ino smiled dreamily, her mind wandering onto a certain dark haired shinobi from team 7._

"_tch. Good for Sasuke. But like I said, no GUY could do this shit and survive. Unless" Shikamaru paused, wiping the sweat from his face and breathing deeply, "Unless they were inhuman. Like Lee and his weird-ass sensei."_

_Ino seethed. She jerked around, standing in Shikamaru's way and thus, halting his progress. "Don't be jealous Shikamaru. Just cause Sasuke's not just some stupid guy like YOU." Ino grinned in an almost feral way, exposing her pearly white teeth. She was irritated more than usual. Not only was she having to do this stupid training and get all sweaty and nasty(which meant she could NOT go find Sasuke after practice like she had planned), not only was she having to hang out with Chouji, her fat lump of a teammate who would do nothing but eat if he was allowed to, not only did she have to spend time with Shikamaru, the utter bane of her existence, but now she was supposed to put up with this lazy jerk insulting her Sasuke? And to top it off, her insults seemed to have no effect on him. He just stood there staring at her as if she was the dumbest thing on earth, eyes blank as a freshly wiped black board. And more than that, he had the audacity to answer back._

"_Of course he's not. No," he continued sarcastically, " the great Prince of emo could never lower himself to the standard of the rest of us mere mortals by actually looking and acting like a guy." Ino opened her mouth, ready to bite out a particularly nasty reply, but Shikamaru leaned forward and cut her off._

"_I bet he spends more time on his hair than you do. Now that I think about it, you two idiots are perfect for each other. The Prince of emo and the Princess of vanity. You share the desire to kill yourselves through almost theatrical means. You, by starvation for the sake of being one of those skinny little tramps you see in magazines. And Kami knows your bastard of a boy-toy will probably hang himself when he finally realizes that he is, in fact, not the center of the whole God damn universe." _

_Shikamaru was obviously in a terrible mood. While he was often sarcastic, he was rarely ever that cruel. He sidestepped Ino with speed that was rather surprising for someone who was carrying a 50 pound basket of rocks on their back, and continued up the hill. Ino growled, whipping around to shout at Shikamaru's back. But at that moment, Asuma decided to appear and yell at her for lagging behind._

"_Come on, Yamanaka! Do you wanna be here all day?"_

_Ino scowled darkly, lowering her head to stare at her feet as she walked. 10 minutes later, she reached the top of the hill to find Shikamaru and Chouji collapsed on the ground. Shikamaru was lying spread eagle, with his eyes closed, breathing deeply. Ino smirked as she let her basket drop off her sore, aching shoulders. She took a minute to catch her breath and then approached her laziest teammate. She leaned down close to him._

"_Aw, poor wittle boy. What's the matter Nara, too much work for you?" she spit venomously. Shikamaru opened his eyes and quirked a brow._

"_This coming from the one who finished the exercise last. Tch. Nice try little girl, but you're gonna have to actually grow a brain if you want me to give a damn about anything you say. Go home and be useless there." He drawled lazily._

_Ino fumed, eyes blazing. She wanted to punch him square in the mouth, but Asuma was right there to see. She settled for growling under her breath. Shikamaru was Asuma's favorite. It never bothered Ino to know this, because Asuma treated them all equally and never acted like Shikamaru was his favorite. At least not on purpose. But it did bother her that Shikamaru could get away with saying things like that to her, but if she hit him for it, Asuma would most certainly not let it slide. She conveniently ignored the fact that talking and hitting were two very different things. Shikamaru should NOT be allowed to talk to her like that._

_Training ended and the team split up, as usual. The boys spent a bit of time at Ichiraku's eating ramen with Naruto. Chouji and Naruto had bonded over food since they had become genin, so occasionally they would meet up to savor their favorite thing together. Shikamaru sighed and played with his food. He was not in the mood for ramen today. He was usually good at not letting his irritation show to Ino, but confrontation with the boisterous blonde always left a bad taste in his mouth. She would be fine if she wasn't so prideful and could learn to take criticism better. It was like she expected everyone to always agree with her on everything and think she was perfect. _

_10 minutes later, Shikamaru still hadn't finished his first bowl, while Naruto and Chouji were on their fourth bowls and showed no sign of stopping anytime soon. Shikamaru pushed his bowl away from him, leaving money on the counter, and got up. He mumbled a quick goodbye to his two friends, and headed towards home. He was more tired than usual thanks to Asuma's unexpected moodiness. He liked his sensei a lot, but today he had been very tempted to kill the man. That, plus Ino being… Shikamaru shook his head, trying very hard not to think about the aggravating blonde girl. He sighed deeply, and lifted his eyes from staring at his shoes to look at the group of people coming towards him from down the road. They were kids younger then him, seven of them. Most were about 9, though a few were 7 and 8. Shikamaru let his eyes fall back to the ground, his thoughts proceeding to wander back to…_

_-splash-_

_Shikamaru looked up to see a splat of mud and a pile of busted latex laying on the ground a few feet from him. He turned his eyes back to the group in front of him. They had spread out in a line to block the road, each one grinning and holding a water balloon. Shikamaru sighed once more. Kids sucked. This thought was confirmed when two water balloons came at him from either side of the road, out of the trees. He jumped back, successfully dodging both. He was surprised. Why would they attack him of all people? He knew these group of kids. Not personally, of course, but he saw them every time he went the flower shop to… The flower shop. The Yamanaka flower shop. Shikamaru ground his teeth. These kids lived in Ino's neighborhood. Apparently his earlier remarks were not ones Ino was willing to let go and so she had probably bribed these little brats into ambushing him. She even went as far as to tell them how to ambush him and where. A secluded road that few took because it led to the outskirts of town where there weren't many homes, show themselves to him to make it seem innocent, but hide a few kids in the trees to wait. He was surrounded. Even as about a dozen balloons came at him from all directions, he had to admit… it was a pretty good plan._

_**End Flashback**_

**-- -- -- --**

And so, 15 minutes later, there Shikamaru was. Standing outside his house, wringing his clothes and hair out. Troublesome woman. Creaking hinges alerted him to the fact that Ino wasn't the only troublesome woman he had to worry about.

"Why on earth are you all wet?" His mother demanded, scrutinizing his appearance.

"Well, you know, I thought it'd be nice to offer myself up as a moving target for some of the village brats." He replied mordantly, in too bad of a mood to care that being cranky with his mother was NOT a good idea. His hostility was met with equal hostility; his mother moving quicker than any civilian should be able to and smacking him upside the head.

"Watch your tone young man. I am your mother. Go sit in the sun. You are not bringing your filthy self into my house until you are dry. I'm not going to spend the rest of my evening mopping the floor just because you couldn't stay out of trouble." She replied bitingly.

"… troublesome…" Shikamaru mumbled under his breath as he dragged his feet towards the backyard to find the sunniest spot available, as far from the house as possible. It wasn't until he laid down that he realized how insanely tired he was. It was just after 5 o'clock and his mother always had dinner ready by 6, so he had just under an hour to dry off, take a nap, and get cleaned up before she would expect him to be at the table.

**-- -- -- --**

Asuma lit another cigarette; the third one from his second pack. He sighed deeply, running a rough hand through his hair. He had no doubt that he was going to die of lung cancer before any enemy ninja were able to do him in. The thought almost made him laugh. Oh the irony. He stared down at his leaf forehead protector and sighed once more. He knew he had been rough on his students today. It was the only reason he let them get away with snapping at each other. Frustration wasn't a healthy thing to keep locked up inside.

He shifted his eyes upward to a picture in a simple wooden frame hanging on his wall. His team: Team 10. Shikamaru Nara, Chouji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka. All three of them were a big pain in the ass, but he wouldn't have them any other way. He felt like a proud father, looking at that picture. And a protective one too. He ran a hand through his hair again, taking a long drag from his cigarette. In just a few months time, the Chuunin Exam would start. He had sat in on a training session with Kurenai and her kids from team 8 to see how they were doing and to compare notes with the rather attractive red eyed jounin. He was a little shocked to see how well their team did. Their level of skill and power was about even with his team, but he was a little irritated with himself when he realized that this team could probably beat his simply because they could outlast them. Kurenai had covered all her bases.

And so, whether or not he entered his kids in the exam, he had decided to stop being so lazy and lenient and force his team to work harder. This exam, it reminded him of the hardships that his team would have to face. They were just kids, but sooner or later they would see death. They would learn to kill or they would be killed. He wasn't worried about what would happen if team 10 ever went up against teams 7 or 8. Those kids had grown up together through the academy. And while they all weren't as good of friends as Shikamaru and Chouji, they cared enough to want to protect each, not hurt one another. So even if his team did lose, the worst there would be were some bruises, cuts, and injured pride. All of those things could be healed. But in situations that real ninja faced, in things as small as this upcoming exam, they weren't child's play. Someday it wouldn't just be sparring with friends. Someday it would be an enemy. And if they lost… their pride was the least of his worries.

**-- -- -- --**

Shikamaru woke to the sound of low rumbling laughter. His eyes opened slowly to see his father squatting down beside him, leaning over to get a look at his son. His father smirked. Shikamaru groaned. His father smirking was never a good sign. He pulled himself onto his elbows and suddenly realized something. It was dark outside. But… it didn't get dark outside until-

"You missed dinner," he father said lightly.

Shikamaru flopped back down onto the ground miserably. He was hungry and dirty and still tired, and his fathers voice was nearly putting him to sleep. It wasn't a disrespectful thing. But his father, Shikaku, had a low voice that was always so… calm. It was almost melodic. Shikaku laughed again, his smirk becoming more pronounced.

"So, from what I heard, you had an interesting day with some of the younger kids in the village."

Shikamaru scowled, knowing full well that his father was barely holding in another laugh. Damn his mother and her need to talk about the stupidest shit. He continued scowling up at his father, whose smirk was fading into a somewhat softer smile. Shikaku sighed lightly before speaking.

"You're such a child," he said grinning openly, "And be quiet, don't interrupt me. It's almost 8 o'clock and your mother is worried. I don't want to have to hear her yelling either. So here's what we're gonna do. I'm going to tell her you aren't feeling well, while you go up and clean up and go to bed. I'll have her bring you up some leftovers. And you just play up the I'm-your-poor-sick-little-boy card. Got it?" Shikaku finished lightly, as if tricking his wife was a common activity… Which it was.

Shikamaru sighed. "Fine. I'm tired anyways."

"Obviously." Shikaku laughed, placing a hand on his son's head as he stood.

"You know," Shikamaru said thoughtfully, "You're a bad influence. Mom would barbeque your remains if she knew about this stuff."

Shikaku laughed loudly; the deep rumbling vibrating Shikamaru's chest. He smiled slightly. These were the moments he would remember about his family later on in life, he thought to himself. These were the kind of moments every kid should have with their parents.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

**-Preview of Chapter 3!!**

_Ino sighed dreamily and smiled. Sasuke would have to be impressed now. Not only was she obviously prettier than Sakura, and every other girl in the village for that matter, but now she would be the most experienced kunoichi of their year. Oh, Sasuke-kun…_

"_Well, good to see you're taking this mission seriously." Asuma's gruff voice broke through her daydreaming. He let his backpack slip off his shoulders and lowered it to the ground near Ino's._

"_You bet, Asuma-sensei!" She chirped cheerfully. _

_Asuma gave her a small smile before settling himself down on the ground and lighting his first cigarette of the day. He leaned back against the gate and closed his eyes. Ino just watched him, fidgeting slightly._

"_Um, Asuma-sensei? Is there anything I should be doing now? You know, before we leave?" Ino asked quietly, for once actually sounding unsure of herself._

"_Yeah," he said, opening his eyes. He smiled again. "You should relax."_

_**-**_ I'm working on Chapter 3 now and I'm hoping to have it up by Monday. It ought to be quite a bit longer than these last 2 chapters have been since it's focus is Team 10's first big mission. Please review and thanks for reading everybody!


	3. Chapter 3 A Mission from the Birds

**Authors Note****:**

**-Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's wonderful characters. -sob-**

-Ok, Here's Chapter3! For this one, I'm sending Team 10 out on a mission! MUWAHAHA! This takes place three weeks after the events in Chapter 2. I've decided to split their mission up, so it will take up probably two or three chapters. We'll see.

-Btw, I'm still getting used to the system here on , so if there are any errors with punctuation being missing around sound effects or the lines that I usually put between POV's, blame it on that. Lol. Anyone who has any tips for me concerning text/format, I would appreciate them! Thanks.

**EDIT: I have no idea why the first paragraph or two is italicized. I can't figure out how to fix it though! If anyone knows what causes it or how to fix it, please let me know! **

**-- -- -- --**

I Didn't Know You Then

Chapter 3

Ino stood at the entrance gate to the city staring off into the distance. She was a whole twenty minutes early. She and her team weren't set to meet up and leave until 7am, but here she was. Early. And waiting. Ino was, surprisingly, excited about this assignment. Their mission was to go to Bird Country and track down a thief who had stolen something very valuable from his former employer. They hadn't been told any details beyond that; they would receive more information from their employer upon arrival. The only reason why this mission excited her was because, not only was it their first mission away from their homeland, but it was also a more difficult mission than team 7, her rival Sakura's team, had been given. She had been jealous a few days ago when she learned that Sakura's team had been given a bigger mission than usual, which involved escorting someone back to their home country, before her team. But now, all that was water under the bridge. When both girls got back from their missions, Ino would be sure to rub it in Sakura's face that her team got a mission that involved doing more than just babysitting.

Ino sighed dreamily and smiled. Sasuke would have to be impressed now. Not only was she obviously prettier than Sakura, and every other girl in the village for that matter, but now she would be the most experienced kunoichi of their year. _Oh, Sasuke-kun…_

"Well, good to see you're taking this mission seriously." Asuma's gruff voice broke through her daydreaming. He let his backpack slip off his shoulders and lowered it to the ground near Ino's.

"You bet, Asuma-sensei!" She chirped cheerfully.

Asuma gave her a small smile before settling himself down on the ground and lighting his first cigarette of the day. He leaned back against the gate and closed his eyes. Ino watched him for a moment, fidgeting slightly.

"Um, Asuma-sensei? Is there anything I should be doing now? You know, before we leave?" Ino asked quietly, for once actually sounding unsure of herself.

"Yeah," he said, opening his eyes. He smiled again. "You should relax."

Ino grinned and sat down, leaning against her backpack. She had no doubt in her mind that neither Shikamaru or Chouji would be early. Shikamaru would be right on time and, with luck, Chouji would be right on his heels. And then they would be off, leaving the Fire Country for the first time in their young lives. Ino smiled to herself. This was the beginning of bigger things for them. She could feel it.

**-- -- -- --**

"Chouji, did you pack the food that I made for you? It was on the counter in the-"

"Yes, mom."

"The ones for Shikamaru and Ino too? Those two are so thin. It can't be healthy for such young ninja to-"

"Yes, mom."

"Oh, and Chouji, honey, don't forget th-"

"Mom! I've gotta go! I'm gonna be late!"

Just then the doorbell rang. Chouji grabbed his pack, stuffing an extra bag of chips into the largest pocket, and opened the door to find his best friend Shikamaru waiting there with heavy eyes.

"We're gonna be late if we don't leave now, " Shikamaru drawled in a tone that clearly conveyed the fact that he could care less whether they were late or not. Chouji smiled and slid the door closed behind him. Without a word the two friends, regardless of the risk of Ino or Asuma's wrath if they were late, began walking slowly towards the entrance gate of the village. Chouji took a quick glance at his friend. Despite the fact that today they would be setting out on their first big mission, their first outside of the Fire Country, Shikamaru looked just like always. His face was fairly blank except for the slight dropping of his eyelids and downward set of the corners of his mouth. He just looked tired. And bored. While most people, especially kids their age, would not wish to be bored, Chouji almost wished he shared Shikamaru's apathetic personality. But instead, he was nervous. All kinds of things could happen on the long trip to this other country, not to mention all the things that could go wrong once they got there.

Chouji's wandering mind was brought back to the present by a small laugh from his right. He turned to see Shikamaru looking at him; the corners of the dark haired boy's mouth twitching upward slightly into a rare smile.

"Nervous buddy?" Shikamaru asked lightly, having been able to read the anxiety on Chouji's face clearly. Chouji grinned half-heartedly.

"Yeah," he said in a low voice, almost too quiet to hear.

"Ah, come on. What's there to worry about? This is a C rank mission. Nothing big. We've done plenty of these kind of stupid assignments." Shikamaru said, attempting to lighten Chouji's mood.

"But Shika, we're leaving the country! We're going all the way to the Land of Birds!" Chouji moaned. "Think of all the things that could happen! We could be jumped. We could be-"

"Oh please. We're genin. Who's gonna care about jumping us?" Shikamaru said, cutting off Chouji's dark thoughts. "Plus, even if they did, there will be three of us, plus Asuma. And in case you'd forgotten, the guy isn't a jounin for nothing."

Chouji paused. He hadn't really thought about that. Even if he, Shikamaru, and Ino couldn't handle the task, Asuma certainly could. Chouji grinned, pulling a bag of chips out of his pack. Munching happily on his crisp barbeque flavored snack, he missed the smug grin on his best friends face as they continued to amble their way to the village gates.

**-- -- -- --**

The boys made it to the entrance just on time, and without any further delay they departed. They took to the trees, starting off at an easy run. After their break for lunch, Asuma decided it was time to pick up the pace. A lot. The cool night air gave them relief from the overwhelming heat they had suffered through earlier in the day, but did little to help their exhaustion. They set up camp for the night in a nicely wooded area by a small stream near the border between the land of Fire and the land of Rain. The borders between nations could be brutal to cross in the dark of night, so Asuma decided that they would wait till first light and cross then.

Shikamaru, unused to going an entire day without at least a small nap, collapsed and was out cold before his sleeping bag was even unfurled, only to be woken up a few moments later when Ino had finished heating the water for their instant food packets. The three genin drank their cups of ramen down in a hurry and then each dropped down onto their sleeping bags to get as much sleep as they could before it was their turn to take night watch. Asuma had opted to take the first shift since he wasn't nearly as effected by their jaunt across the country as his students.

Three hours later, Shikamaru was shaken awake. He pushed his hair, which had come loose from it's tie, out of his face and opened his eyes to find his sensei smiling at him apologetically. It was his turn to take the night watch. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and crawled his way out of his sleeping bag. He was unkindly greeted by the cold night air. It was just after midnight and the temperature near the border of the rain country was a great deal cooler than it was at night in Konoha. Shikamaru dug through his backpack, pulling out a slightly too large black pullover sweatshirt with a hood. It had been his fathers not too long ago. After tugging it on over his head and pulling up the hood, Shikamaru unzipped his sleeping bag to use as a blanket, grabbed his various pouches of ninja tools, and settled down by the still burning embers of their small fire.

Despite the calm he had managed to keep all day, the night in this place made him jittery. He felt small and weak looking out into the darkness of the surrounding forest. The forests near Konoha were beautiful. Large oaks, birches, and pines stretched up to the sun, which shined through the leaves of the green canopy making it almost seem to glow. Soft tufts of grass carpeted areas of the forest floor, and flowers colored the many smaller bushes and trees on the outer edges near the cities. But here, the forests did not look so warm and inviting. An excess of rain and a definite lack of tending had turned the trees and bushes wild. They grew and tangled, as if some horrid vegetation spider was weaving a web of vines and branches in which to catch anyone foolish enough to wander into the wilder parts of this world.

Shikamaru shivered unconsciously, and tried to move his thoughts away from the darkness and what may lie inside it. That was the problem with a mind like his. It was overactive. Unceasing. He never got peace from it unless he was sleeping or distracting his mind with games or clouds or something else. He looked over to where his teammates and sensei were sleeping. He was almost surprised to find that Asuma did NOT sleep with one eye opened. But, he supposed, a guy as resilient as his sensei really didn't need to worry about it. He was tough as nails. He turned his eyes to Chouji, who slept with his mouth open and arms wrapped around his backpack, undoubtedly protecting his food supply. Shikamaru smiled. For someone who could be a veritable giant when he was pushed, Chouji was a softy. While he had no doubt that Chouji would one day become as physically tough as Asuma, Shikamaru doubted that he would ever loose his soft core or his love of all things barbeque. Or at least he hoped he wouldn't.

A soft sigh from the left caught Shikamaru's attention. Ino stirred, turning over in her sleeping bag before settling into a semi-comfortable position and falling back to sleep. Shikamaru stared at his female teammate, surprised to find that he was actually smiling. He couldn't help it. Ino was a pretty girl. This, of course, was half of the problem. Ino was pretty… and she _knew_ it. Maybe if she wasn't quite so good looking or if she had Sakura's forehead issues, then she'd be tamer and less obnoxiously vain and bossy. Nearly all the boys around their age thought that she was a gift from whatever higher being they believed in, and Ino never bothered disagreeing with them. Shikamaru was fairly certain that at least some of Ino's pigheadedness had something to do with her parents sugarcoated attitude towards their only child. She was spoiled and coddled by both her mother and father, lauded by all her teachers, and worshipped by her peers, male and female alike. It was easy to see how it could go to a young kunoichi's head. Shikamaru sighed. She wouldn't be half bad if she would just shut her mouth for more than 5 seconds occasionally.

Shikamaru shook his head and rubbed his hands over his face vigorously. He was tired and on the verge of falling asleep. He looked at his watch and was surprised to find that only 1 hour had passed. He still had two left. He sighed again. This was going to be a very, very long night.

**-- -- -- --**

Two hours later, Chouji woke to the sound of crunching. He knew that sound. He laid still with his eyes closed, trying to place it. His eyes shot open as he realized where he knew that sound from. He jerked upright and turned to find that his backpack was no longer in his possession. Instead it was sitting across the campfire next to his best friend, who had opened it open and had taken out a pack of Chouji's favorite chips. Barbeque. Shikamaru grinned at his sleepy-eyed friend as he popped another chip into his mouth.

"Good Morning Chouji. Get some good shut-eye?" Shikamaru drawled tiredly. Chouji decided not to snap at Shikamaru, seeing as not only did the other boy look like he was about to pass out mid-chew, but Ino and Asuma were still asleep. Chouji settled for grumbling out a few choice words. Shikamaru laughed.

"It's my turn to take watch, isn't it?" Chouji asked, dreading the answer but already knowing what it was.

"Yep."

Shikamaru tossed Chouji the bag of chips, in which remained one single chip; the very last one in the bag. Chouji smiled softly. He watched his friend, who looked so very different with his shoulder length hair hanging down like curtains around his face, struggle to get up. After about a minute Shikamaru gave up. Sitting in one position for three hours and utter exhaustion were not a good combination, especially for a Nara. Shikamaru simply flopped onto his side, curled up, and fell right to sleep. Chouji would have laughed if it weren't for the fact that he pitied his friend. At least he had gotten a full 6 hours of sleep before having to take watch, whereas Shikamaru's sleep had been spilt in two and he'd had to take watch in between.

Chouji dragged his sleeping bag over by his backpack and sat down next to Shikamaru's sleeping form. He popped the last chip into his mouth, savoring it for a full 30 seconds before digging into his backpack for a new bag. He set the unopened bag down and got up to get some new wood for the fire. It would still be an hour or so before the sun rose and it was very cold outside. Chouji gathered some loose twigs and dried leaves, tossing them onto the dead remains of last night's fire. Using Asuma's lighter, he started a small flame and spent the next 30 minutes keeping it alive and getting it to grow. By the time the first hour of his watch was up, Chouji had a small, but decent fire going.

Just over an hour and a half later, Ino woke and began rummaging through their supplies for what she could make them for breakfast. Asuma woke moments later, stretching and asking Chouji how his watch was going. Another half an hour passed and Ino had finished making them a decent breakfast. Shikamaru got shaken awake and nearly cussed out the person waking him, until he realized that that person was his sensei. The four of them ate at a mild pace, each taking their time in waking up and becoming accustomed to the cold morning air. After breakfast, they took turns going to the stream to bath. By 7am, they had all their gear repacked and were ready to set off.

"You're not going to kill us with the pace you were making us go yesterday, are you?" Shikamaru grumbled to Asuma, who just rolled his eyes.

"I plan for us to be in Bird Country by nightfall. Tonight." He replied evenly. The three genin stopped what they were doing to stare at their sensei.

"But, Asuma sensei, the journey to Bird Country is supposed to take three days." Ino said. Asuma grinned wickedly, striking the kids with a sense of foreboding.

"Consider it… _endurance training_." He answered back. A collective groan was heard in the camp.

**-- -- -- --**

While the weather in the land of rain was thankfully nowhere near as hot as the weather they'd had to endure the previous day, it was just as miserable. The country lived up to it's name, after all. The four man team was forced to expend chakra in order to keep themselves from slipping off the tree branches that were wet from the rain. The forest ended only about an hour into their trip, which led them to an open road. The ground was slicked with mud and without the forest canopy to protect them, the rain became a brutal enemy. They had to stop several times. Once to take out their thick cloaks, and many more times to help each other up from having slipped and fallen in the mud. The break for lunch was a welcome one.

Their break was quick and despite all of the set backs due to the weather, they arrived in Bird Country around dinner time. To Chouji's great annoyance, Asuma decided that they would not stop for dinner until they reached their employers estate. After a few more miserable hours, they finally reached their destination. The estate was not as large as Ino thought it might be, but it was still sizeable. Much larger than any of their homes anyways. Asuma stopped just short of the gate and turned to face his team.

"Alright. I know this trip hasn't been fun… at all. But this is work, not playtime. So whether it's fun or not, this is what we do." Asuma began.

"What a drag…," Shikamaru mumbled under his breath. Asuma ignored him and continued.

"Our employer owns this estate. He's a wealthy business man who works with professionals and will not tolerate incompetence or childishness. And I won't either. I know you guys have it in you to do a really good job here and make me proud. I'm not questioning your capabilities. What I'm questioning is whether or not you _will_ do a good job. Or if you'll even try." At the last sentence he looked pointedly at Shikamaru, who returned his gaze calmly.

"Alright then. You guys ready for your first mission outside of the Land of Fire?" Asuma asked. The three genin nodded in reply, and so they continued on to the gate. The guards on duty alerted their boss to the team's presence and an escort was sent to lead them in. They were shown to their rooms so they could clean up before they would meet their employer. Chouji nearly squealed with delight when their escort informed them that they would be dining with Lord Ishikawa, their employer and owner of the estate. They cleaned up quickly and 10 minutes later were being lead into a small, but luxurious dining room. 15 minutes after that, they were finally joined by Lord Ishikawa.

"My, my. You leaf shinobi certainly are prompt. We weren't expecting you until tomorrow!" Ishikawa greeted them with a grandfatherly smile, immediately putting any unease the kids may have felt to rest.

"We take all of our mission seriously, Lord Ishikawa. A job worth doing, is worth doing well. And that is an idea we try to instill in the next generation of our shinobi." Asuma replied, gesturing to his students. Ishikawa smiled again.

"I'm glad. The Land of Birds has no hidden village of it's own, as I'm sure you know. So we depend upon the aid of our allies. And as you also know, there has come upon my family a most unfortunate happening that is beyond the skill of my guards to handle."

"Yes. We were sorry to hear of your misfortune with this thief who came into your midst," Asuma began. "Now, can you tell us… What was it that the thief has stolen from you?" Ishikawa hesitated a moment before replying.

"…My daughter."

**-- -- -- --**

_**-**__**Preview of Chapter 4!!**_

"You know," Shikamaru said, startling Asuma out of his thoughts, "this whole "stolen" business is crap."

"Why do you say that?" Asuma asked.

"Because, there hasn't been a ransom for the girl. If this guy Toshio wanted something, he probably would have made demands by now. And just cause no one saw them having contact, didn't mean that they didn't have contact. Most likely, Lady Chiyoko simply ran away with the guy and Ishikawa is pissed cause his precious little heiress ran off with some loser below her station. Stolen, my ass. She's just another stupid girl." Shikamaru replied.

"Hey!" Ino cried indignantly.

"Behave you two. And Shikamaru, watch your mouth." Asuma said, hoping to stop a pointless argument before it started. "But you did make a good point. This could just be a case of a runaway, rather than… kidnapping."

"Um… Asuma-sensei? Is this still a C rank mission?" Chouji asked nervously, "You know, since it could involve kidnapping or something?"

"It depends on how skilled this guy Toshio is. So far, it sounds like we're dealing with a civilian. Most ninja are contracted out by their villages, and only missing nin aren't. And, I've never heard of a missing nin doing something as menial as guard duty. So yeah, I doubt he'll be much trouble to take down if that becomes necessary. But who knows. At most, it might turn out to be a B rank mission." He replied.

**Author's Note****:**

**Thanks for reading and please review to let me know how I'm doing! Also, let me know if you prefer chapters longer like this one, or shorter like the previous two chapters. If no one has any complaints about the length, then I'm gonna continue to make the chapters about this length or longer. Each progressing chapter is going to have more content and depth now that I'm really getting into the swing of the story. The first two chapters were mainly to introduce the characters, the storyline/situation, etc. And don't worry, after I'm down with this mission arc/part of the story, you'll start see other characters more. **


	4. Chapter 4 The Forest and the Fight

**Authors Note****:**

**-Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's wonderful characters. -sob-**

-Ok, Here's Chapter4! Sorry for the wait. Life screwed up my schedule. :P The 4th of July weekend, my mom having a garage sale and forcing me to help), plus cramps and just not feeling well in general does nothing to help writers block. Blah. I'll try to update once per week. But I'm also making the rest of these chapters quite a bit longer than the first 2 chapters were, so bear with me.

-Anyways… This chapter is the continuation of Team 10's mission in the land of birds. Now the fun can really begin!

P.S.- Reviews are appreciated.

**EDIT: I have no idea why everything is italicized. I can't figure out how to fix it though! If anyone knows what causes it or how to fix it, please let me know! **

-- -- -- --

I Didn't Know You Then

Chapter 4

Asuma was silent as he and his team walked back their rooms together. The meal and meeting with their employer had finished just 5 minutes before. The entire team had been shocked into silence when Lord Ishikawa had informed them that the "item" that had been taken from him wasn't an item at all, but was actually his 15 year old daughter Lady Chiyoko. The man that took her was one of Lord Ishikawa's guards. His name was Toshio. According to Ishikawa, Toshio had come into his employ only 4 months before, after he had saved Ishikawa from roadside thieves. He had been impressed by Toshio's physical skills and had offered him a job as a guard at his estate. Toshio accepted and did his job well, but did nothing to merit a raise of any kind. Upon learning that Ishikawa had no intention of promoting him to a higher position, Toshio's demeanor changed rapidly. He was no longer calm, kind, and efficient, but instead was often aggressive, arrogant, unreliable, and at times even cruel to other servants and people from the nearby village. Ishikawa had pulled Toshio aside, explaining why he had decided not to give the man a promotion and then threatened to fire him if his behavior didn't improve immediately. That very day, Toshio went back to the way he acted before and Ishikawa was certain that everything would be fine. Unfortunately, only three short days later, Toshio and Lady Chiyoko vanished.

Asuma sighed. According to Ishikawa and almost all of the servants of his estate, Toshio had not had almost any contact with Lady Chiyoko prior to her vanishing. And yet, there had been no threat or ransom note. What was Toshio up to? Was he waiting for something? Or-

"You know," Shikamaru said, startling Asuma out of his thoughts, "this whole "stolen" business is crap."

"Why do you say that?" Asuma asked.

"Because, there hasn't been a ransom for the girl. If this guy Toshio wanted something, he probably would have made demands by now. And just cause no one saw them having contact, didn't mean that they didn't have contact. Most likely, Lady Chiyoko simply ran away with the guy and Ishikawa is pissed cause his precious little heiress ran off with some loser below her station. Stolen, my ass. She's just another stupid girl." Shikamaru replied.

"Hey!" Ino cried indignantly.

"Behave you two. And Shikamaru, watch your mouth." Asuma said, hoping to stop a pointless argument before it started. "But you did make a good point. This could just be a case of a runaway, rather than… kidnapping."

"Um… Asuma-sensei? Is this still a C rank mission?" Chouji asked nervously, "You know, since it could involve kidnapping or something?"

"It depends on how skilled this guy Toshio is. So far, it sounds like we're dealing with a civilian. Most ninja are contracted out by their villages, and only missing nin aren't. And, I've never heard of a missing nin doing something as menial as guard duty. So yeah, I doubt he'll be much trouble to take down if that becomes necessary. But who knows. At most, it might turn out to be a B rank mission." He replied.

Asuma closed his eyes, pitching the bridge of his nose in irritation. Despite the likelihood that this guy would be a push-over for them, this mission was still not what it was supposed to be. Of course, his team's first big mission and it just had to get complicated. Kakashi's team had gotten a freaking escort assignment. They'd have it easy. Walk the guy there, maybe rest for a day, and then walk back. Piece of cake. And what made it worse was the fact that Asuma wasn't sure if he'd rather have it be a kidnapping or that Lady Chiyoko ran away. If she ran away, then they would both fight against being brought back, but if she was kidnapped then he doubted Toshio would hesitate to use threats of violence against the girl or them. Either way, Asuma pretty much figured that he was going to have to do the brunt of the work on this mission and keep his team back a bit. They weren't ready to deal with a real fight, a hostage situation, or trying to convince some stupid teenage girl that she needed to go home. Asuma sighed again. This was not going to be fun.

-- -- -- --

Ino woke early the next morning, along with the rest of her team. They got ready and ate breakfast quickly, and then made their way out to the village nearby. It was only about 10 miles from Ishikawa's estate, so they got there in under 15 minutes. The four of them decided to split up and go from shop to shop, inn to inn, and restaurant to restaurant asking about Toshio and Lady Chiyoko. Ino paused a moment before setting off and pulled out the two pictures that each member of their team had been given. Chiyoko was three years older than her, but in this picture she certainly didn't look like it. She was small in stature, with fair skin, rosy red cheeks, blue eyes, and midnight blue hair. The girl in the picture almost seemed to be trying to hide herself from the camera. She reminded Ino of Hinata, except that her hair was much longer and she didn't have Hinata's cuteness. Toshio, on the other hand, was definitely older, though Ino wasn't sure by how many years. He looked fairly tall, had sandy blonde hair, green eyes, tan skin, and a mischievous smile. He was actually kind of… handsome.

Ino slapped herself mentally. What was she thinking? A few days away from Sasuke and here she was admiring some other guy. She tucked the pictures back into her waist pouch. This guy was either a kidnapper or had run off with some little twit of a noble girl, so he wasn't her type anyway. And besides, she had already given her heart to Sasuke, hadn't she? Ino shook herself from her thoughts as she arrived at the first shop. It was a small food stand selling an assortment of rice, noodles, and meats. Including barbeque. Ino smiled to herself. Chouji would be so jealous.

-- -- -- --

Shikamaru sighed, stuffing his hands down into his pockets as he ambled down one of the streets in the small town. He had already talked to several people at different shops and inns. No one had much if anything to say about Toshio or Lady Chiyoko. The biggest reaction he had gotten to his questions was from a group of teenage girls. Apparently, Toshio had a fan club and these girls were members. The girls had giggled and started talking about how handsome and cool the stupid guy was. Then the squealing began. Shikamaru gagged at the memory. Pretty boys were horrible in so many ways. Not only did they attract the stupidest girls and turn them from just stupid to outright crazy, but they also tended to be arrogant. Toshio was a classic example. He thought he was so great that he deserved a better job, when in reality he was just as mediocre as everyone else. And when he couldn't get a better job than everyone else, he just had to get a better girl. Moron.

Shikamaru wasn't jealous. Not one bit, despite what Ino thought. If he'd had crazy fangirls chasing him around and squealing and giggling about him, he'd go crazy and rethink his no-hitting-females policy. Nor did he care if people thought he was great at anything, being a ninja included. He knew what he was capable of, but what was the point in doing the extra work? He did very little in the academy and still passed along with people like Sasuke. Same results, less work. Sasuke thought he was so great and trained all the time. But what did that get him besides people talking about how great he was and a gaggle of obnoxious girls pining for him? Nothing. He was just another genin doing lame missions, just like everyone else. Shikamaru scowled. Pretty boys. They were nothing but a lump of ego and brooding, mixed with a dash of girlish looks. Since when was that something worth being jealous over?

"Fresh flowers! Buy one get one at half price!" A female vendor close by yelled, snapping Shikamaru out of his inner monologue.

Shikamaru paused for a moment, struck by a sudden thought brought on by the vendor's shout. If Toshio had wooed Lady Chiyoko, then he might have bought flowers during the process and therefore, this vendor might have some info for him. It was certainly worth a try. With that though in mind, Shikamaru approached the vendor with a little bit of hope and as much determination as he could muster.

-- -- -- --

Chouji finished his third tenderloin kabob and was about to order another helping when the clock on the wall behind the counter caught his attention. It was almost time for him to go meet up with his team. He seriously hoped that they had faired better then he had. After walking up and down several streets asking nearly everyone in sight about Toshio, he had come up with no leads. Sure, he had gleaned plenty of useless bits of information about the guy, but nothing substantial about where he might have gone or why he had taken Lady Chiyoko with him. After a couple hours of fruitless work, Chouji had decided to take a break. He figured he deserved one, after all the effort he had put into this particular part of the assignment.

Speaking of effort, Chouji wondered if Shikamaru was having as bad of luck as he was. And if so, had his lazy friend given up yet? This town had several areas on the outskirts that were nothing but nice open fields with a few small trees. Chouji wondered if perhaps he should go check to see if Shikamaru was there sleeping before he headed to meet up with everyone else. After a few moments of deliberation, he decided against it. Shikamaru was never late for meetings, despite his slothful tendencies. He didn't need Chouji to look after him. And so, Chouji forced himself away from his empty plate and headed to the center of town.

-- -- -- --

It was just before noon, but Asuma already felt like he'd been out all day. He had gone into every decent place, talked to everyone who was willing to talk, and yet he'd gained nothing particularly useful. The only places he had yet to look and ask questions were the bars and other such places that were definitely not areas he wanted his genin students visiting. So he waited. He had told his team that they were to meet back together in the city center at noon to report their findings. He had little doubt that his team had the same bad luck that he'd had gathering useful info. So eventually he would end up going to a few bars to find out what the local scumbags knew. Lowlifes tended to have more information than regular people anyways.

Asuma arrived at the appointed meeting place to see that two out of his three students were already there waiting. Shikamaru and Ino were standing in the shade of one of the taller buildings and, much to Asuma's surprise, seemed to be having a conversation. Neither were yelling, scowling, arguing, or even looked annoyed for that matter. Asuma paused for a moment, savoring this moment when his students, who often seemed more like archenemies than teammates, were actually getting along. Where was a camera when he needed one? Asuma resumed his walking and was soon joined by Chouji, who had just come up one of the streets joining at the junction that made up the city center. Together they made their way over to Shikamaru and Ino.

"Hey guys." Chouji greeted.

"Hey." Ino and Shikamaru echoed in unison.

"Alright, down to business. Report. Ino?" Asuma said, getting straight to the point.

"Right. I actually… I didn't really find out anything much that was useful. A couple people said the guy was a jerk and he was arrogant, a couple girls said he was great, most of the shop owners didn't really seem to know who he was, and everybody else… Honestly, all I really got was a bunch of different opinions on his personality. No one seemed to know where he lived, hung out, who his friends were, or anything!" Ino said exasperatedly.

"Me too. That's the same stuff I heard." Chouji piped up.

"That's pretty much what I got too." Shikamaru began, "Except for one thing that was kind of interesting."

"What? What was it?" Ino asked, the curiosity obvious in her voice. Asuma and Chouji turned to him as well, waiting to hear what could've possibly piqued his interest.

"Well, I talked to this one lady. She owns a floral shop. I asked her if Toshio ever dropped in to buy flowers or anything or if she ever saw him with Lady Chiyoko." He began, "She got this sour look on her face and told me that yeah she'd seen the guy. She said just about a week ago or so, she was pruning the flowers outside her shop and she had seen him standing across the street with a few other guys. She overheard him bragging to the guys about some redhead he was hooking up with. After him and his buddies said their goodbyes, he walked by. She said since he had mentioned being with a girl, then maybe he'd like to buy her some flowers. So when he walked past her, she told him she'd give him a good deal on a bouquet to give his little redheaded girlfriend." Shikamaru stopped for a breath and then resumed the florists story. "She said he got real pissed. Knocked the flowers out of her hand and got in her face. She said she seriously thought he was gonna hit her or something. He started cussing, called her a bitch, and told her if she didn't mind her business and keep her trap shut that he'd be putting those flowers on her grave."

The rest of team 10 stood still, some in shock, some in thought. Ino was disgusted. Toshio had officially lost all appeal. But though she and Chouji agreed that it was an interesting tale, neither understood how it helped them with their situation. Ino was first to voice her confusion.

"Ok, so the guy is a complete jerk. But how does that help us?"

Shikamaru sighed. "Think about it Ino. If Toshio was chasing some redhead around just a week ago, then do you really think he could have a serious relationship going with Chiyoko?"

Ino paused, realization dawning on her. So that was why Shikamaru bothered to tell them the florists tale. It wasn't cause Toshio's actions shocked him, it was because it gave them good reason to doubt that his motive for taking Chiyoko was love. Therefore, they could expect Toshio to treat Chiyoko like a hostage, even if Chiyoko herself didn't realize his true intentions. And because they knew this, they could better prepare themselves for the situation. Despite all of his flaws, Ino had to hand it to him; Shikamaru was great at piecing together little clues that most ninja their age would have completely overlooked. Asuma clapped his hands together, bringing everyone's attention to him.

"Alright. Well done Shikamaru. But unfortunately we still have no idea where the guy is. In order to find out, this next part of the mission is one that I have to do alone."

Had Asuma been stating this to team 7 or team 8, he would have heard complaints, protests, or some form of disagreement. But… he was not. Instead what he got were two genin who stared up at him with blank expressions, and one who drawled lazily, "Does this mean we get a break?" Asuma sighed. Enthusiasm was not a big thing for his team. The only thing Ino was enthusiastic about was jumping on the moody Uchiha kid, while Chouji's enthusiasm was only aroused when in the presence of large quantities of food. And Shikamaru… well, Asuma wasn't really sure if Shikamaru even understood the word. Asuma shook himself from his slight bewilderment and continued.

"Since it's obvious that average citizens have had little meaningful contact with our boy Toshio, and since the guy sounds like a creep, the best place to find information now would be a bar or tavern of some kind. That's why you can't help. You're under aged." Asuma said, finishing with a grin.

-- -- -- --

Four hours had passed since their meeting and still Asuma hadn't returned. Before the team had split for the second time, Asuma heading to various bars while the three genins went to have lunch, Asuma had instructed the kids to keep a low profile and wait for him just outside of town by a small lake. After taking a long lunch break, once Chouji had finished eating enough food to feed a small country, they had gone to the lake to wait. It was a nice place. Surrounded by fields of lush grass and a few tall, bushy trees; the lake had a very peaceful atmosphere. Shikamaru wasted no time in finding the most comfortable spot he could, laid down, and in a matter of moments had fallen asleep. Chouji and Ino sat down on either side of their sleeping teammate and so, the wait began. After a few minutes of staring off into space, Ino decided that scoping out the area would be a good way to kill some time.

She was gone for 20 minutes and when she returned, found that Chouji had followed Shikamaru's lead and fallen asleep. Ino shook her head. She wondered vaguely if all guys were as careless as her teammates when they were young and, if so, how had the male species managed to last so long? But Ino had to eat her words when, after another hour of doing nothing but waiting, she too fell asleep.

It was just past 6 o'clock when she was shaken awake by Shikamaru. Asuma was finally back. He sat atop a small boulder a few feet from where she lay and puffed on a cigarette. Ino controlled the urge to roll her eyes. Her sensei was without a doubt the worst chain smoker she'd ever met. She and her teammates had once considered trying to force Asuma to quit. Their plans never came to fruition, mainly because Shikamaru shot down every plan any of them came up with and made several good points about the shinobi way of life and some other stuff that Ino couldn't quite remember. Occasionally Ino still considered stealing his cigarettes, but she knew it'd never work even if she actually did manage to swipe his smokes.

"Well, now that you're all nice and rested up, it's time to get going." Asuma said, blowing out a long line of smoke. "I got a lead. Apparently Toshio didn't spend that much of his time in this village. My informant told me that he would usually stop in for a drink before heading out of town in the opposite direction of Ishikawa's estate, towards a forest a few miles away."

"So, we're heading to the forest then?" Ino questioned. "Do you think he has a house in there or did he just go through the forest to somewhere else?"

"Not sure." Asuma replied. "But, from what my informant said, Toshio went there almost every day and only spent a few hours there each time. So most likely, he was doing something in the forest itself."

Shikamaru sat, his brows furrowed, thinking hard. What could Toshio have been doing in that forest? Meeting with people who paid him to kidnap Lady Chiyoko? Building a prison? Building a house? The list was endless. The only way to find out was to go and investigate. The four members of Team 10 wasted no more time. They set off towards the forest at a quick pace. They had just over an hour before it started getting dark. Asuma led with Shikamaru and Ino just behind him, and Chouji bringing up the rear. Shikamaru was still considering all the possibilities of what they could find in the forest, when out of the corner of his eye he saw Ino silently trying to get his attention. He turned to look at her, giving her a puzzled glance. Ino grinned widely and pointed to Asuma's neck. Shikamaru looked and for a moment was confused about what it was Ino had been pointing at, but then… he saw it. There, just above the collar of his vest. A smudge of the most awful, blood red lipstick. Shikamaru looked back at Ino and smirked.

"So, Asuma…" Shikamaru began smoothly, "was your informant a woman, by any chance?" Ino stifled a giggled while Asuma, with a puzzled frown, answered.

"No, why?"

"Nothing, just curious." Shikamaru replied, before asking another question. "So then, it was a guy?"

"Yes."

"And, um…did he by any chance wear red lipstick?" Shikamaru asked, keeping his voice deceptively even. Ino's face was red with suppressed laughter and Chouji had paused his eating in utter confusion. Asuma was confused as well. Why on earth would Shikamaru think the guy wore lipstick? Then it hit him. Before Asuma could stop himself, his left hand flew to the back of his neck. Shikamaru and Ino laughed out loud, Ino with tears beginning to leak out of the corners of her eyes.

"Gee Asuma, not batting for the other team are you?" Shikamaru prodded with a devious grin. Chouji finally caught on and promptly began to choke on his chips. The four of them stopped so that Ino could pat Chouji on the back and thereby save him from death by his favorite snack. Asuma took the moment to clarify that the lipstick came from a woman he was trying to get information from earlier, but he got nothing from her because talking didn't seem to be what was on her mind. This confession did nothing to save him from teasing though. Instead, it added Ino to the fray.

"Breaking a woman's heart just for some information? My, my Asuma sensei. What would Kurenai sensei say?" Ino cooed playfully.

Asuma's face turned redder then any of the genins had ever seen it go. He spent the next few moments sputtering out an awkward denial and then threatened them with extra endurance training if they didn't zip their lips. That shut them up straightaway, though all three of them continued to grin madly. They continued on and after a few minutes, they reached the edge of the forest. After a word of caution from their sensei, the four entered. Had the guy they were looking for been a ninja, they could have simply searched for any chakra signatures. Asuma had been teaching them how to locate a hidden enemy by their chakra and though they had yet to master it, it certainly would have made things easier. Their next best thing was Ino. Of the three of the genins, she was the best at tracking. Using one of her prized family jutsus, shintenshin no jutsus, Ino possessed the body of a bird and soared through the forest looking for signs of their quarry. The three remaining members of team 10 didn't have to wait long. Less than 10 minutes after she performed her jutsus and set off, Ino returned to her body with a smile on her face.

"About 7 miles from here, to the northeast. He has a fire going just outside a small hut. I couldn't see inside, but I bet our little lost girl is in there." Ino said with a prideful smirk.

They wasted no time, setting off immediately. Toshio had been alone tending to a small fire when Ino had seen him. If they were lucky, they could have both him and Lady Chiyoko back before dinner time. Asuma was hopeful. No matter what Toshio's intentions were, if they could catch him off guard then Chiyoko would be safe from him. From what Ishikawa said, Toshio didn't seem to be especially bright. So, most likely, he would have stuck with a simple plan and kept Lady Chiyoko close by. They would probably find her tied up in the hut. Hopefully she'd be alive still. Asuma quickened his pace.

-- -- -- --

The four members of team 10 were stationed in trees around the open area where Toshio and the hut were located. Toshio was still there, setting a cast iron caldron over the fire and preparing to start dinner. So far, he seemed to be completely oblivious to their presence. Asuma gave the signal and they moved into their final positions, readying themselves for their attack. Ino and Chouji were stationed behind trees and bushes to the east and west of the fire, which sat in the center of the clearing. Asuma was in a large tree to the south of the fire, hiding amongst the leaves on a branch that hung almost half way across the clearing. His move would be the start, and hopefully end, of the fight. Shikamaru was the back up plan incase Toshio slipped through the others fingers and headed for Lady Chiyoko who, they assumed, was in the hut. Shikamaru was stationed to the south, crouching down behind the hut. If Toshio came within three feet of the front step of the hut, Shikamaru would capture him in his shadow and it would be over.

Asuma leaned over as far as he could without falling off the branch. He had wrapped an explosive tag around a small rock and was aiming to throw it into the caldron of water. The cast iron pot would keep it from causing too much damage, but would blast the hot water straight out of the pot. Hopefully the blast would knock Toshio off his feet, and the steam from the overheated water would give Asuma enough cover to drop down and pin Toshio before this encounter could actually turn into a fight. Unfortunately, plans didn't often translate smoothly from thought into real life. Once Asuma had dropped the tag covered rock into the pot, he hastily jumped back to keep from getting steamed or splashed. With a loud bang, water went everywhere and Toshio was knocked backwards onto the ground. Asuma dropped down and approached Toshio's seemingly unconscious form cautiously, while Ino and Chouji emerged from the bushes to flank them on either side just incase. Just as Asuma reached Toshio's side, the man rolled over, laughed manically, and, with a loud pop, changed appearances. Asuma gasped in shock. He was now looking into the face of none other than his informant.

-- -- -- --

_**Preview of Chapter 5- **_

The door to Shikamaru's room opened and he winced as whoever had entered turned the rest of the lights on. He shielded his eyes with him right arm; the left one was still causing him a bit of discomfort. After a minute of letting his eyes adjust, he opened them fully. Ino was standing at the side of his bed with a tray of food. He had apparently slept through dinner.

"Glad to see you're finally awake. Hungry?" Ino asked with a small smile that did little to hide her concern.

"Yeah actually." Shikamaru replied groggily, taking the tray as Ino passed it over and helped him set it down. "By the way, what time is it? And what's going on?" he asked before starting to eat. Ino made herself comfortable in a chair beside the bed, which Shikamaru hadn't noticed before.

"It's just after 10 o'clock. Chouji's in bed sleeping. Asuma and Ishikawa are in with Toshio. I wasn't allowed in until just 20 minutes ago, probably because Asuma's had to beat the information out of the idiot-head." Ino said.

"Has he said anything yet?"

"Yeah actually. Quite a bit. He told us why he and Kenshin- oh yeah! Kenshin is the name of that other guy by the way. The one that pretended to be an informant and was disguised as Toshio." Ino began, "Anyways, he told us why they were here and why they took Lady Chiyoko."

Shikamaru sat still, listening intently. When Ino didn't continue, Shikamaru scowled. "And?" he asked in a mildly irritated tone. Ino went slightly red in the face.

**Authors Note****: MUWAHAHA! Another cliff hanger! I'm evil, I know. But don't worry, the fight will continue in the next chapter. It will get even more twisted and you'll find out what Shikamaru is doing during all of this. :D Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I'm planning to wrap up this story arc in the next chapter, so yay to that! Next arc- CHUUNIN EXAM!! Anyways, I proof-read my own writing, so it takes me a tad bit longer. GAH! Anyways, please review and tell me what you think thus far!**


	5. Chapter 5 Decieved and Decieving

**Authors Note****:**

**-Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of it's wonderful characters. -sob-**

-Ok, Here's Chapter 5! This chapter is final part of Team 10's mission in the land of birds.

P.S.- Reviews are appreciated. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far!

-- -- -- --

I Didn't Know You Then

Chapter 5

Shikamaru sat behind the hut waiting for Asuma to drop his explosive tag into Toshio's caldron. Their plan was fairly simple and, so long as Lady Chiyoko was actually here and alive, would bring a smooth finish to their mission. Shikamaru peeked around the corner of the hut. He wanted to keep an eye on Toshio incase it became necessary to immobilize him quickly. Shikamaru was surprised to see that Toshio, who was bent down with his back open to the trees above, was grinning rather wickedly. The look in his eyes was crazy and his face was darker somehow, not at all like the picture of Toshio. In that moment Shikamaru became certain that the man Asuma was about to go after couldn't be the real Toshio. Shikamaru quickly focused his chakra, seeking out the other chakra signatures in the area. He easily located three chakra signatures in the woods just outside the clearing and immediately recognized them as that of his two teammates and his sensei. He narrowed his area of focus to inside the clearing and realized that, unfortunately, he was right. But while he was disturbed to discover that the Toshio in the open area did have a chakra signature, and was therefore not a civilian, he was even more disturbed when he realized that another chakra signature was coming from the hut.

Before Shikamaru had time to think beyond his shock, Asuma's tag exploded. While the rest of his team was busy with the fake Toshio, Shikamaru was having problems with the real one, who had chosen the moment of the explosion to come straight through the back of the hut and right at him. On Asuma's side of the building, Shikamaru could hear laughter and the beginning of a serious fight starting. But he wasn't concerned about that. Asuma could handle himself, he was a jounin. Unfortunately, Shikamaru was not. And even more unfortunate than that and the discovery that Toshio and his accomplice were ninja, was the realization that Shikamaru's opponent was out of his league. WAY out of his league. Shikamaru dodged backwards as quickly as he could, out of the way of Toshio's shuriken and kunai. He threw so many, so fast that Shikamaru had trouble seeing the projectiles in time to dodge them. He already had a few gashes and cuts on his arms and legs, and Toshio showed no signs of letting up.

In a dizzying rush, Shikamaru realized that, since no one on his team realized that Toshio was here and attacking him, he was alone in this fight. Shikamaru jumped backwards again, landing at the edge of the partially shaded clearing. He formed the necessary hand signs and sent his shadow shooting forward. Toshio jumped back quickly, landing atop the hut. And while his actions brought him to the attention of the rest of team 10, it did nothing to help Shikamaru. Not only was Toshio now well out of the reach of his shadow possession jutsus, but his wicked laugh and the sinister gleam in his eye gave Shikamaru the feeling that things were going to go down hill. Fast. As usual, he was right. Before Shikamaru had enough time to think of a decent plan, Toshio had formed several hand seals. Shikamaru froze in horror as the ground began to shake violently.

"EARTH STYLE ROCK RAM!" Toshio bellowed over the rumbling of the ground. Faster than Shikamaru's body could react, a thick slab of condensed earth shot up out of the ground and connected squarely with his sternum. In the distance he could have sworn he heard Asuma yell his name, but it was lost to him as he was slammed down into the ground. The impact knocked all the air out of his lungs. He found himself gasping for breath and choking up blood. The pain in his chest was excruciating. He rolled onto his side and curled up slightly, clutching his chest and doing his best not to pass out. His vision was blurred, but he could hear the ongoing fight between his team and the other two ninja. He took a slow, shuddering breath to calm himself. The fight was far from over and team 10 was not doing well.

-- -- -- --

Ino and Chouji leapt backwards, dodging the four kunai sent their way. After Toshio, the real one, had pounded Shikamaru into the ground, he had turned and come at them. Asuma was fighting the other nin; a dark haired, grim faced man who had finally stopped laughing now that he realized that Asuma could take what he dished out and give it back ten-fold. Ino and Chouji however, despite being teamed together against one opponent, were not doing so good. They had never fought against a ninja from the Earth Country, nor had they ever seen earth style jutsus before, so they had little idea of how to react to Toshio's attacks. He sent a large boulder flying at Chouji, who was fortunate in that he could simply use his family's body expansion jutsus to enlarge his fist and smash through the rock. Ino was not so lucky. Toshio threw a few kunai at her, forcing her to dodge to the left at the same moment that he sent another large chunk of rock hurling straight at her. Ino's body froze, the stress of her first battle finally taking it's toll on her. The rock slammed right into her midsection, sending her flying backwards a good ten feet.

"INO!" Chouji yelled, turning to see his other genin teammate impact brutally with the ground.

Chouji turned back towards Toshio, ready to fight, but was horrified to see that Toshio had formed hand seals and was sending the same attack at him that he'd used against Shikamaru. The rock could come out of the ground anywhere! How could he avoid that?! Chouji panicked, not knowing whether to run, hide, or go after the guy. The ground began to rumble as Toshio again shouted his attack command. Chouji had a split second glimpse of an enormous slab of earth rushing up from the ground to meet him before he was knocked sideways. Asuma grabbed Chouji and rolled a few feet more to the left.

Toshio quickly made a different set of hand seals, aiming to strike both Asuma and Chouji as they tried to regain their breath. But before Toshio could finish making the last sign, his body froze. He fought against the mysteriously oppressive force, grunting and growling.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Toshio yelled in frustration.

Asuma was on his feet again in a second. He rushed at Toshio who, in his current state, could do nothing to defend himself. Asuma pulled back his fist, letting it fly when he was right in front of the other ninja. His punch connected hard with the side of Toshio's head. He fell to the ground, unconscious. Asuma straightened and watched as the dark patch around Toshio's body writhed and withdrew. Asuma looked up.

"Good job Shikamaru." he said warmly, glad to see that his dark haired student was ok.

Shikamaru was still trembling, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth and smudged along different areas of his arms and legs. He allowed himself to drop down to his hands and knees, once again gasping for breath. Using his shadow possession jutsus after that injury had put an immense strain on his body, but it had been worth it. Toshio's dark haired accomplice, realizing that he was now at an extreme disadvantage, took off into the woods.

Asuma moved as if to pursue, but stopped short. He turned back to his team and the unconscious form of Toshio. Shikamaru was in pretty bad shape and Ino was injured as well. These kids needed medical attention. Plus, they had Toshio. Scumbags that were willing to kidnap were usually not the most loyal of guys. He doubted he'd have trouble convincing Toshio to spill information on his accomplice and the missing girl. Asuma pulled Ino and Chouji to their feet and they made they way over to Shikamaru, who conveniently chose that moment to pass out.

Ino pulled some bandages and medical salve from one of her pouches. Her abdomen ached from where the rock Toshio had thrown hit her, but other than that she was alright. Chouji rolled Shikamaru onto his back so that Ino could tend to his injuries as much as possible while Asuma tied Toshio up. Ino felt terrible as she used a wet wipe to clean the blood off of Shikamaru's face. He had expressed his concern about where their mission was headed while they were waiting for Asuma and Chouji to meet them earlier. He had told her that he was beginning to doubt that this mission was going to be as simple as they initially thought, and that he was worried that it would be something that genin like them couldn't handle.

As usual, Shikamaru was right and he had paid for it. But even after taking an intense beating from a higher level ninja, he had still gotten back up and fought, enabling Asuma to knock Toshio out and end the fight. Ino felt worthless. Her injury wasn't nearly as bad as Shikamaru's, and yet he had done a lot more. He had fought Toshio on his own and, in the end, was the one that made it possible for them to end the fight without anymore injuries. All she'd done was get hit and knocked down. Ino's self loathing was brought to a sudden end when Asuma spoke.

"Ok, I know you're all hurting, but we need to get back to Ishikawa's so that all of you can get treated for your injuries and so that this guy," Asuma nudged Toshio with his foot," Can be questioned. Chouji, can you carry Shikamaru?"

"Yeah." Chouji replied.

"Ok, good. Ino, you're ok to walk by yourself?"

"Yes, sensei." Ino replied sullenly.

"Ok then, let's go." Asuma said, picking up Toshio and motioning for them to get up and follow. The trip back to Ishikawa's was unpleasant, but it had to be done. They had some things to discuss with their employer. Why on earth were these two ninja, who Asuma presumed must be missing nin, targeting Ishikawa and his daughter? When they got back to the estate, Asuma was going to make sure he got answers. From Ishikawa and Toshio BOTH.

-- -- -- --

Three hours later, Shikamaru struggled into consciousness, sweating heavily. His chest felt like it'd been hammered at repeatedly by a large sledgehammer. When Shikamaru finally remembered the events of a few hours ago, he realized that that wasn't very far from what did happen. He rolled onto his side and, using his arms as leverage, pushed himself up into a sitting position. He looked himself over. There was only one dim light on in the opposite corner of his room, but he could see well enough all the small cuts and bandaged areas. They were minor injuries; nothing to really worry about.

He put a hand to his chest. In the last second before Toshio's rock ram had struck him, he had managed to throw up a small amount of chakra to lessen the blow. If it hadn't been for that, half the bones in his chest would probably have been shattered. As it was, he had a terrible bruise that would take at least a couple weeks to heal, as well as several skin abrasions. He had spent the first minute or so after Toshio's attack hit feeling and thinking that he was going to die. He'd never experienced so much pain in his life. He was still in quite a bit of pain, but at least he knew he'd be alright.

The door to Shikamaru's room opened and he winced as whoever had entered turned the rest of the lights on. He shielded his eyes with him right arm; the left one was still causing him a bit of discomfort. After a minute of letting his eyes adjust, he opened them fully. Ino was standing at the side of his bed with a tray of food. He had apparently slept through dinner.

"Glad to see you're finally awake. Hungry?" Ino asked with a small smile that did little to hide her concern.

"Yeah actually." Shikamaru replied groggily, taking the tray as Ino passed it over and helped him set it down. "By the way, what time is it? And what's going on?" he asked before starting to eat. Ino made herself comfortable in a chair beside the bed, which Shikamaru hadn't noticed before.

"It's just after 10 o'clock. Chouji's in bed sleeping. Asuma and Ishikawa are in with Toshio. I wasn't allowed in until just 20 minutes ago, probably because Asuma's had to beat the information out of the idiot-head." Ino said.

"Has he said anything yet?"

"Yeah actually. Quite a bit. He told us why he and Kenshin- oh yeah! Kenshin is the name of that other guy by the way. The one that pretended to be an informant and was disguised as Toshio." Ino began, "Anyways, he told us why they were here and why they took Lady Chiyoko."

Shikamaru sat still, listening intently. When Ino didn't continue, Shikamaru scowled. "And?" he asked in a mildly irritated tone. Ino went slightly red in the face.

"Yeah, sorry." she said, still blushing. "Apparently, Ishikawa and his family are the protectors of this scroll of forbidden jutsus. They've been protecting it for years, since Ishikawa's great uncle was the Lord of this place. Toshio and Kenshin's plan was for Toshio to get promoted into a pretty high position here, hire Kenshin, and then they were gonna search the place for the scroll. Then they would use it to get really powerful and take over this place and eventually the rest of the country or something. Pretty lame plan, right?" Ino finished.

"Yeah." Shikamaru replied. He thought for a moment before speaking again. "So, when Ishikawa wouldn't promote him…?"

"He said he just got mad and really impatient. He tried using genjutsus to get Chiyoko to tell him where the scroll was, but she didn't know. After that, he couldn't just let her stay since she knew what he was and why he was there. So, he made the stupid rash decision to kidnap her." Ino replied, rolling her eyes.

"Did he say what they did with her? Or were planning to do?" Shikamaru asked.

"Not that I know of. Asuma made me leave to come check on you and bring you some food. Plus, I think he didn't want me to hear whatever they were gonna talk about next. He got that look on his face, you know." Ino answered back, frowning. Shikamaru knew the expression she was talking about. It was the one that clearly said you're-too-young-for-this. For someone who was constantly telling them to grow up, Asuma seemed pretty determined to protect what little was left of their innocence.

Ino and Shikamaru spent the next 15 minutes discussing what had happened during their fight with Toshio and Kenshin, Shikamaru's injuries, and what could happen next, before heavy footsteps could be heard coming down the hall. The footsteps paused outside Shikamaru's room for a moment before the door was pushed open to reveal Asuma. He looked tired. Asuma came in the room, all three occupants greeting each other.

"I take it Ino filled you in on what Toshio's said so far?" Asuma asked Shikamaru, kneeling down beside the boy's bed.

"Yeah." Shikamaru replied.

"Well, here's a update for the two of you. According to Toshio, Lady Chiyoko is being held in a man-made cave he and Kenshin formed with their jutsus. Kenshin is the mastermind behind all this apparently. He set us up for the ambush in the forest, hoping to get us out of the way so that their operation could continue unhindered. Toshio also said that they hadn't decided what to do with Chiyoko, so they were just keeping her locked up." Asuma said evenly, before his voice slipped into a more loose and slightly irritated tone. "I gotta tell you, these guys aren't too bright. Toshio said that the main plan they were working on was marrying Chiyoko and killing Ishikawa so that they'd just inherit everything. Idiots."

"Um," Ino began uncertainly, "Why is that such a bad plan?"

"Because everyone already knows that they took Chiyoko, no legal marriage would happen around here without Ishikawa's consent, and then who knows if they'd even be able to find the scroll even if they did inherit the place? Ishikawa only knows where it is because his predecessor told him. It might not even be hidden here." Asuma replied.

"So… this cave?" Shikamaru questioned.

"It's in the northern most area of the forest we were in yesterday. We'll head there early tomorrow morning, which is actually not long from now. It's almost 11pm. So, you two get some sleep. I'll wake you when it's time to get ready." Asuma said, giving Shikamaru another quick once-over before getting up and leaving the room.

Ino and Shikamaru said a quick goodnight and Ino left to go to her own room, turning off the lights as she left. Shikamaru laid back down, putting his hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling. Tomorrow they would face Kenshin. He hadn't gotten to see how the other ninja fought, but if it was anything like Toshio's attacks then tomorrow was going to be a very rough day for them. There were so many things that could happen, so many things that could go wrong. It was possible that Kenshin could have just taken the girl and left. Or, he may have just killed her. Missing nin were not known for being the most honorable or merciful people. Shikamaru sighed, closing his eyes. He wished, for not the first time, that he'd chosen an easier path than that of a ninja.

-- -- -- --

The morning air was cold, but not nearly as harsh as it had been when they'd traveled through the Rain Country. Team 10, accompanied by four of Ishikawa's guards, were heading for the forest at a brisk pace. Without seeing the cave, knowing exactly where Lady Chiyoko was, or what Kenshin would have in store for them, they hadn't been able to come up with any great plan. Their goal was simple for now. They intended to find and secure Ishikawa's daughter, and then they would worry about taking Kenshin down. Now that Asuma knew how Kenshin fought, and now that Toshio wouldn't be there to back him up, Asuma was sure that a fight against him would be quick. Unless of course, Kenshin had planned for their attack in advance. Which, more likely than not, he had.

Upon reaching the forest, Asuma sent Ishikawa's guards off to create a perimeter around the forest. They each had a special chakra rod that Asuma had rigged up himself. They would be stuck into the ground at four locations: one to the east, one to the west, one to the north, and one to the south. Any being with a chakra signature that passed through the rod's borderline would send a signal to Asuma and his team. It was their contingency plan incase Kenshin turned out to be more than they could handle at the moment. Asuma seriously doubted that Kenshin was smart enough or talented enough to take all four of them on and get away.

With Ishikawa's guards heading off to do their jobs, Team 10 headed into the forest cautiously. Kenshin could have set any number of traps from here to the cave. They didn't want to get hurt obviously, but they also didn't want to tip Kenshin off to their arrival early. Surprise was a good advantage, and they wanted to have it. After 20 minutes of tiptoeing through the forest, they could see through the trees to a big rock formation in the middle of a clearing. They'd found the cave.

They detected a few traps and easily avoided them. Kenshin was apparently not very good with laying traps. Shikamaru hoped that that was a sign that this confrontation would go smoothly. But, as Shikamaru had always been a somewhat pessimistic child, he seriously doubted it. Before entering the cave, they split into two groups of two and went around the cave, looking for any other exits or entrances. The cave seemed rather simple from the outside. There were no other openings. Ino was actually surprised at how quickly they made it around the whole cave. It was only about 12 feet in diameter. When the four of them finally went into the cave, Ino realized why.

While the cave certainly wasn't wide, at least on the outside, it was deep. Very, very deep. Asuma and Chouji lit flares as it got darker the further down they went. After about 10 minutes of wandering, they reached what appeared to be the bottom. It was an open and fairly well-lit cavern. Asuma and Chouji put out their flares, so as to not attract any unwanted attention, but the cavern seemed to be empty. The team once again split into two groups; Ino accompanying Asuma, while Shikamaru stayed with Chouji. They kept to the shadows on opposite sides of the cavern. Everything was quite until they reach the far end of the cave.

"Well, well. It looks like I've trapped some rats in my cave." Kenshin's voice cackled from somewhere back near the entrance. Team 10 spun back around, trying locate him. Kenshin laughed cruelly as he dropped down, straight out of the ceiling of the cavern with a girl draped over his shoulder. It was Lady Chiyoko, and she was unconscious. With another laugh, louder this time, Kenshin dropped Chiyoko to the ground and made a quick set of hand seals. Shikamaru blanched as the entire cave shook.

"EARTH STYLE- CAVE IN!" Kenshin bellowed, followed by the sound of cracking and falling rocks. Oddly enough, the sound was coming from behind Kenshin instead of- Shikamaru jumped up, pulling Chouji with him, as realize hit.

"He's caving in the exit! He's trapping us in!" Shikamaru yelled over to where Asuma was standing with Ino. The rumbling and crashing finally stopped. Kenshin, grinning from ear to ear wickedly, picked up Chiyoko.

"I wonder how long you and your leaf brats will last underground," Kenshin said to Asuma, "Without food or water. And soon enough… without air." With that, he did another quick set of signs and launched himself from the floor and right through the ceiling of the cave. He was gone. And they were stuck. The three genin froze in horror. Not only was Kenshin getting away with Chiyoko, but they were stuck in a tomb and would soon run out of oxygen.

"Well…" Shikamaru said, "That was, uh…, a much better plan than his other ones."

"Yeah, no duh Einstein." Ino retorted sharply.

"Now is not the time to start arguing you two." Asuma said, placing a hand on Ino's shoulder briefly.

Shikamaru sighed, crouching down and placing the tips of his fingers together. They needed a plan, and fast. Asuma spared a glance at Shikamaru, recognizing the gesture. He grinned before beginning to pace the cave. Shikamaru would come up with a plan, he always did. And when he did, Asuma needed to know as much about their surroundings as possible so that he knew what they could and couldn't do. After a few minutes, Shikamaru opened his eyes and stood.

"We needed to find the thinnest part of the cave ceiling." He said pointedly to Asuma, who'd stopped to listen. "We need to find where there's the least amount of earth between us and the top."

Asuma reached out with his chakra, attempting to detect a difference in the soil above. The further up his chakra went the more loose and wet the soil seemed to be, until he finally detected a firm source of water. The plants on the surface. He went around to different areas of the gave, testing the thickness with his chakra. After a few minutes, he stopped and turned back to his students.

"It's the thinnest over here, near the entrance. It's also weaker here since Kenshin caved in this area." Asuma said.

"Ok," Shikamaru said, turning to Chouji, "Hey Chouji, how much weight do you think you could hold up?"

"Um…" Chouji began uncertainly, "I dunno. A few hundred at least, when I'm using my jutsus."

"Perfect." Shikamaru replied. "Ok, here's the plan. It's not great, but it's pretty much all we've got."

"Let's hear it." Asuma said. Shikamaru sighed heavily. A lot was riding on this little plan of his. In fact, pretty much everything was.

"Ok, the four of us need to stand together, as close as possible, under that area." He said, pointing to the area Asuma had deemed the thinnest. "We need to set off an explosive tag near the middle of the ceiling of this cavern. The explosion will break most of the ceiling apart and bring it down. And," Shikamaru turned to Chouji with an apologetic smile, "Chouji'd have to hold up the area above us until either the cave in is over, or till there's space for us to get out. Most likely, we'd have to wait the cave in out though."

Ino and Chouji's faces were pale, though Chouji's had taken on a slightly green hue. Shikamaru turned to Asuma, shrugging apologetically. Asuma just nodded. It was a risky plan, but it was all they had. Asuma made his way to the center of the cavern and pulled out an explosive tag.

"You can't be serious?!" Ino squealed, both of her hands clutching her face in a rare display of utter terror.

"It's all we've got Ino. And it actually could work." Asuma replied calmly. "Under the thinnest area of the ceiling, Chouji shouldn't have too tough of a time holding up an area big enough for us to be under, while the three of us keep the debris from getting too close. It won't be easy, but we can do this. And by the way… it's this or slowly suffocate to death."

Ino paled impossibly, but nodded. Chouji took a deep breath and turned to Shikamaru, who nodded encouragingly. It was do or die. All four of them made their way over to the entrance, and Chouji found a spot to brace himself and the ceiling. The other three crowded around, crouching a little. Asuma pulled out a kunai and aimed at the explosive tag he had stuck to the ceiling about 10 feet away. He looked up at Chouji, who swallowed nervously, but nodded none the less. Asuma aimed again, threw his kunai, and thereby unleashed hell right over top of their heads.

-- -- -- --

Kenshin paused, turning back in the direction of the cave to see dust billowing up into the sky. He laughed sadistically. Those stupid leaf shinobi managed to bring the ceiling down on themselves apparently. Now he was truly free and clear. He turned away, continuing in the direction he'd been running. There was no need to run now though, what with those idiot ninja crushed and buried. Ishikawa would be helpless now. He would hand over the scroll or his daughter would be the first to die. Then, Ishikawa and everyone else in his household would follow, including that idiot Toshio. That stupid boy only ever got in his way anyways. And besides, he'd never planned to share the scrolls secrets with him anyways. There could only be one Kage in the new hidden village he was going to create here, after all.

Kenshin came to the southern most end of the forest, and was surprised to see one of Ishikawa's guards waiting there. The man noticed Kenshin and unsheathed his sword, but he never stood a chance. A few kunai later, the man was on the ground. He would bleed out in less than an hour. Kenshin spat down on him as he passed, walking leisurely down the road that led to the town. He laughed to himself. This would be too easy. He would claim to have found the girl to anyone in the village who asked and any of Ishikawa's guards who were there, a few always were, would bring him before their lord as an honored guest. A hero. And then the fun would begin.

-- -- -- --

Ino coughed, waving the dust out of her face as much as possible. Chouji was on his hands and knees panting heavily. He'd done it. They were all covered with various scraps from small bits of debris, as well as a thin layer of dust and dirt, but they were all alive and no longer trapped underground. Shikamaru stumbled over to his best friend, grinning as he laid a hand on Chouji's shoulder. Asuma finished dusting himself off before addressing his team.

"Great job Chouji. You did it and saved our asses big time. Unfortunately, we don't have time to rest. I received a signal from the southern rod. Kenshin must've passed through a few minutes ago. It seems that he's heading for Ishikawa's estate. We need to get there as soon as possible. Kami knows what Kenshin will do."

"Right." Ino affirmed.

Shikamaru and Chouji stood and nodded their agreement as well. Team 10 once again set off in pursuit of Kenshin. They went at pace that put their speed on the journey to the land of birds to shame. By the time they reached Ishikawa's estate, Chouji felt as if his legs were going to fall off. But there was no time to rest, Kenshin could already be inside. It was game time.

-- -- -- --

Kenshin was surprised to have not run into any of Ishikawa's men in the village, though several villagers had asked questions and forced him to play the part of hero. He didn't mind it though. He rather liked the attention. But play time was over now that he had reached Ishikawa's estate. Without further ado, he knocked the guards at the gate unconscious and proceeded in. He came into the courtyard where he was met by a dozen more guards, all ready for a fight. Kenshin grinned, laughing his typically sinister laugh before yelling loudly-

"IS THIS ALL YOU'VE GOT OLD MAN?!"

Another group of soldiers came rushing into the courtyard. Kenshin laughed again. He let Chiyoko slip from his shoulder to the ground, where he held her up slightly by her hair before letting her drop fully. He jumped forward slightly, moving into an offensive stance and forming hand signs. With a yell, three guards with thrown backwards, going straight through one of the walls of Ishikawa's home. Kenshin laughed again before running at another group of soldiers, sending them flying with a few well placed kicks. He jumped back, landing next to Chiyoko's still form before any of the guards could get to her.

"Your troops are nothing to me Ishikawa! COME OUT!" he yelled once more. "I've got a deal for you. I'll spare you, you're brat child, and even the rest of your pathetic guards. Just GIVE ME THE SCROLL!"

"SHINTENSHIN NO JUTSUS!"

Kenshin whirled to the left, surprised to see two of the leaf ninja still alive. The blonde girl had dropped down into the chubby boy's arms, appearing to have fainted. Kenshin grinned. She must have tried to use a jutsus on him, but her injuries from getting out of the cave must have forced her unconscious. Now she and her comrade were sitting ducks. Just like the rest of the guards.

A cough from his right caught Kenshin's attention. His face paled slightly. Apparently the jounin had made it out of the cave in too and he, unfortunately, looked to be in better shape than his students. Kenshin shifted into a defensive pose, keeping his eye on Asuma while making sure Chiyoko was still close by. Before Asuma could move to attack, the door to Ishikawa's house slid open and out came the lord of the estate himself.

"Please," Ishikawa began, pulling something out of his robes," No more fighting. No more violence. Just take the scroll and leave." Kenshin was shocked, but quickly composed himself and reached for the scroll.

"But-" Asuma sputtered.

"No. I thank you for your efforts, but I can take this no longer. I just want my daughter back." Ishikawa said, cutting off Asuma's protests.

Kenshin spared Asuma a glance and smirked. He grabbed the scroll from Ishikawa's hand and immediately knew something was wrong. Were forbidden jutsus scrolls supposed to have chakra signatures? A loud pop answered his question. Standing before him was the last of the three leaf genin, the dark haired boy that Toshio had failed to kill. Kenshin moved to grab his kunai, but was too slow. Shikamaru formed the necessary hand signs with surprising speed and Kenshin was stuck. Kage mane no jutsus (shadow possession) success. From behind him, Kenshin was surprised to see Lady Chiyoko emerge and brandish a kunai at his neck.

"Hello, darling." She said in a voice that was far too peppy to actually be hers. She looked from Kenshin to the shadow nin before him and winked.

"Shintenshin no jutsus success." Ino chirped brightly. Asuma laughed, stepping forward.

"Okay Ino, I think you can let go of Lady Chiyoko now." he said.

Ino nodded and formed the releasing seals. Her spirit flew back to her body, and Chiyoko dropped down into Asuma's arms. Ishikawa stepped forward and took his daughter, as Chouji and Ino joined their teammates around Kenshin.

"Well, Kenshin… it's over." Asuma said. "But before I knock your lights out, I'd like you to take part in a little ceremony that Ishikawa has agreed to have in your honor."

Kenshin was puzzled. Two seconds later, his jaw dropped as Ishikawa pulled another scroll out of his robes. It was the real forbidden jutsus scroll. Kenshin struggled against Shikamaru's shadow, but to no avail. After all they'd been through, Shikamaru was focused and determined not to let this dirt bag out of their grasp again. Kenshin look on in horror as Asuma performed a fire jutsus, lighting a sizeable bonfire in the middle of the courtyard.

"For the love of my family… this scroll, passed down through generations of my family, will today be destroyed." Ishikawa began.

"NO!!" Kenshin yelled, struggling more than ever. Chouji performed a quick jutsus, enlarging one of his arms and hands. He nodded at Shikamaru, who released his jutsus as Chouji grasped Kenshin tightly, pinning the man's arms to his sides.. All he could do now was flail his legs and jerk his head. Ino grinned before turning back to Ishikawa.

"For the sake of this land and every other, for the sake of peace, this scroll will be

hidden in a place where none can follow. It will be forever hidden… in the fire and the ash. So let it be done."

"Let it be done." Ishikawa's guards chanted in unison.

Kenshin almost sobbed as Ishikawa raised the scroll over the fire and let it go. The scroll dropped into the fire and was quickly swallowed by the flames. It was gone. It was done. And so was team 10's mission in the land of birds.

-- -- -- --

An hour after the bonfire ceremony was over, team 10 was packed up and ready to go. Words could not express how relieved the three genin were to finally be going home. Ino was shocked when she realized that she'd gone nearly two whole days without thinking about Sasuke. With that revelation came another. Boy did she have a story to rub in Sakura's face when she got home. They'd faced TWO missing nin! She couldn't wait. Sasuke would be hanging on her every word once he found out. At that thought Ino decided to spend sometime with her hairbrush, and neither of her male teammates were willing to interrupt. Shikamaru and Chouji walked out into the hall outside the room just in time to bump into Asuma.

"Come on, grab your stuff. We're going to meet with Ishikawa one last time before we head out. Get Ino, will ya?" Asuma said, once again puffing on a cigarette.

A few minutes later, the four of them were standing before Ishikawa and Lady Chiyoko who, besides actually being conscious for the first time they'd seen her, was blushing and doing her best to shrink into the background. She stuttered out a thank you and apologized for causing them so much trouble, to which they gave the automated "no trouble at all" response.

The thank yous and goodbyes lasted for a few more minutes, with Ishikawa giving them some extra food and tokens of appreciation for their help. Finally, the team headed out. Shikamaru was never more glad to be going somewhere. As pretty as the land of birds was, he was seriously missing his hill and his cloud time. Chouji pulled out a bag of chips, his self-reward for making it through this hellish mission. Ino's head was in the clouds as much as Shikamaru's, just in a different way. After all, Shikamaru didn't exactly spend his cloud time thinking of a certain moody Uchiha. Asuma looked back at his team, smiling. He was happily surprised at how well they had handled this mission. Maybe he would nominate them for the Chuunin Exam after all…

-- -- -- --

_**Preview of Chapter 6 coming soon!! **_

**Authors Note****: No cliffhanger this time. lol. Hope you enjoyed this. Tell me whether I ended it well or not. Was it kind of anti-climactic? I hope not. Anyways… THE NEXT CHAPTER IS THE START OF THE CHUUNIN EXAMS!! I'm excited, can you tell? So, in the next chapter they will arrive home, learn about the exam, bump into some of the other rookie nine, and possibly have an interesting encounter with the sand siblings. Hooray!**

**In other news… I'm working on a ShikaHina story called "Stole," so while I'm very much NOT putting this on hold or anything, I will also be working on that. Give it a look if you like ShikaHina comedy/romance. **


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